A Temporary Madness
by Aelibia
Summary: In a place where neither of them belong, they both find room to belong to one another. Deidara and Sakura.
1. Love Is

**A/N:** Well, it's another one. This time it's a DeiSaku, too. The title is from the poem, but the fic wasn't inspired by it; I had a hell of a time trying to think of a name and found this site that listed a buttload of sayings and that sort of thing. And don't ask me about the timeline. It's somewhere after the beginning and somewhere before the end. Come up with your own timeline. And the sentences are not in chronological order. Okay!

This fic is formally dedicated (with music and carpet and punch and everything) to the talented Fallacy, at the forefront of DeiSaku-ness, and because she made me do this. Oh, and she was the beta, too.

**Title:** A Temporary Madness

**Fandom:** Naruto

**Pairing:** Deidara x Sakura

**Theme set:** Delta

**Rating: **T

_**Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement[and it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are. **_

_**Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident.**_

**-**Excerpt from Captain Corelli's Mandolin

**#01 – Air**

Sometimes Sakura had had enough; sure, Tobi was fun and rather _interesting_ to try to comprehend, Zetsu could have a conversation about anything and often helped her medical research along with tips about how to use plants in healing processes, Hidan and Kakuzu could take the stress out of any person's day by simply observing them talking to one another, Kisame gave her cooking tips underneath the table—Sakura didn't want to prod the issue further, Itachi was…well, Itachi, but sometimes Sakura wished she could have more than just a breath of air from time to time; sometimes she needed more, because it seemed Deidara was out to make her life miserable for some bizarre reason, and even Zetsu frequently commented on his unusual behavior; it had started some time after Sakura had been with them and met the _other_ members of the Akatsuki.

**#02 – Apples**

On one of her clandestine snooping trips through the back rooms of the Akatsuki base, Sakura entered a large room only to find it empty with a single green door at the other end; of course, she couldn't pass up trying to open it, and was surprised that not only was it unlocked and unsealed, it led to a small alcove with a single tree growing in the middle of it, sunlight hitting just so in a way that every leaf was outlined with gold and white, the tiny veins beautifully exposed to the human eye; the boughs were full of apples, too, Sakura noted, the branches almost touched the ground with the weight; so—fashioning her shirt into a makeshift basket—she gathered as many apples she could carry, bustled herself into the kitchen where she promptly made the best apple pie anyone had ever tasted; later, tired of hearing Deidara subtly hint—_he_ thought—about her making another pie, she went back to the room only to find the door had vanished.

**#03 – Beginning**

Staring down at the beginning of something soft and blue forming between two cleverly clicking knitting needles, Deidara inquired as to what she was making; Sakura smiled, resting the needles on her enormous stomach, and answered, "It's a blanket for Daichi when he comes," pausing for a few seconds while gazing fondly at the bump under her diligent hands; Deidara allowed himself a few seconds as well to peer at his wife's enlarged figure—as if he didn't do it constantly—before huffing arrogantly and walking briskly away, calling back over his shoulder, "I _still_ think he should've been named Heinrich, yeah," leaving Sakura rolling her eyes and muttering about crazy artists' fetishes for weird names before returning to the developing blanket; Daichi kicked her ribs in agreement.

**#04 – Bugs**

Sakura was seriously considering finding a way out of the Akatsuki base and back to Konoha to be rid of these dreadfully confusing feelings until she saw the bugs; she was on her daily round trip to the back bathroom for a good cry when she saw them climbing out of cracks in the wall, swimming up from the pipes under the toilet to float around in the stagnant water, and creeping up from the bathtub drain to scamper up the sides and out under the door; when she had collected her wits, she decided that having a woman around the base was definitely something that needed to happen; they couldn't cook shit, were clueless with laundry, and—and—they let _bugs_ crawl around _everywhere_; she'd grab Kakuzu for a quick trip to the nearest grocery store for some heavy duty bug spray, some soap, and a mop, then whip that hellhole into place for those poor, clueless men—and herself—to be able to properly dwell in; Deidara and the funny things she felt when near him could be dealt with in due time.

**#05 – Coffee**

It was Deidara who first introduced her to coffee; it was vital, he said, to any ninja in any situation on a mission or otherwise, to have the dark, bitter powder at hand for a short burst of energy; resisting the urge to let the know-it-all, educated medic-nin inside her take control and explain to him exactly what she thought of that theory, she sat and listened to him, apparently enraptured; she knew he was just looking for an excuse to talk to her.

**#06 – Dark**

Sakura always hated the dark; it was silent and biding and an unwelcome presence surrounding her as she attempted to sleep on her makeshift bed of six chairs tied together, a lumpy cushion as a pillow, and Hidan's Akatsuki cloak for a sheet until they found her a bed—or rather, a bed that Kakuzu thought was reasonably priced—but she knew that even with a change of rooms and furniture the darkness would remain; it forced her back in Konoha, to relive the bodies of friends and comrades alike scattered all over the road, all over the village; the times she _did_ go to sleep she dreamt about it and must've cried out once or twice because when she woke up at sunrise one morning, Deidara was sprawled out on the floor beside the chairs clutching an empty glass which was once filled with water she didn't remember drinking.

**#07 – Despair**

Sakura thought she knew the meaning of fear: being attacked by rogue ninja on her first mission out of Konoha, trying to evade the Sound and Sand ninja in the battle after the exams, watching Sasuke leave, hoping he would come back but somehow knowing he never would, standing up to Tsunade when asking her to take her on as an apprentice, thinking about Naruto when he was away with Jiraya the Frog Hermit, hating that she had no idea if he was _alive_ or not, and fighting Sasori in the cave with Grandma Chiyo's help, but now she knew a whole different kind of fear, the kind of despair she dreaded ever facing; in an effort to gain her appeal—that was what Sakura had gathered in the situation in the seconds before she was avidly hunting him down—Deidara had done her laundry, and mixed the darks with the lights, even going so far as to use the wrong kind of detergent for the ramshackle bundle of now-deformed and ruined clothing articles, leaving her with nothing to wear but a dripping towel after her shower; rethinking the situation later (and still wearing the towel), she wondered if he had actually planned it all along.

**#08 – Doors**

There were many doors in the Akatsuki base, most of which Sakura had never bothered to explore or were just locked; her favorite door was solid oak, faded and smooth with age, dutifully muffling the sounds of small explosions—and, often, cursing—from within: Deidara's room; Sakura made it a point to sneak inside whenever Deidara was away on Akatsuki business and look at the few clay models he kept intact (at Tobi's insistence, because he should keep at least _one_ to look at once in a while), because for some reason he always made a big deal about it whenever she—or _anyone_, for that matter—tried to go in even when he _was_ there; she understood why when she saw the little figurine of her holding the injured foal she found in the woods weeks ago.

**#09 – Drink**

When Daichi began to walk was when Sakura had to pull together all her skills of motherhood and babies from her D-rank mission days of babysitting some bitch's kids; he was into and explored absolutely _everything_: kitchen utensil drawers, weapons cases, Samehada—much to Kisame's dismay, the laundry room, Zetsu's stockpile of topsoil in the greenhouse, Deidara's exploding clay—much to _everyone's_ dismay, especially the new building contractor when he arrived, old mission reports, Hidan's rosary—much to Jashin's dismay, and more every day; Deidara even caught Daichi trying to take a drink from the toilet once and barely helped him escape a very messy fate, for which Sakura was very grateful.

**#10 – Duty**

Sakura thought it was so adorable when she would rush to the sounds of a hungry Daichi only to find that Deidara had gotten there faster and was hefting the little guy into his arms to comfort him—steadfastly ignoring the sniggering coming from his male companions a ways away—wiping off his tears—a gagging noise from Hidan was heard here—and murmuring softly to tell him what was wrong, putting his nose to Daichi's and smiling in a way that Sakura just couldn't help but huff softly at, regretting it when it Deidara looked up and saw her; he would then haul Daichi over to Sakura and shove him over with slightly pink cheeks, muttering, "It's your duty to provide the breastfeeding," to which Sakura would reply coyly, "But I was _so_ enjoying watching your duty to fatherhood."


	2. Entwined Roots

**A/N:** More sentences. It seems like they keep getting longer as I go. Now everyone go read Fallacy's "Next Time" and "Such a Charming Veneer" for _more_ sentence crack.

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**#11 – Earth**

"The earth is alive," Zetsu often told Sakura during their shared time in the greenhouse, "it holds the beginning and end of _our_ lives; it is eternal but short-lived; it gives comfort to those who have none; it is a friend for the friendless," and Sakura agreed: "I have no one left from my old life, if you want to call it that; but I guess the _earth_ was always there to take care of me when I was down, even though I don't totally understand what you're saying that much;" Zetsu smiled, revealing small, pointed teeth from within the folds of his cloak and answered, "Not true; you have Deidara and the little one now, and another one coming still," Sakura looked up at him for a long while, then slowly set her watering can down on the loamy floor to gaze at her still-flat stomach and smile lightheartedly; "Yeah, I guess you're right."

**#12 – End**

She tried to endure it—tried to suffer through it—but her finely-crafted woman's patience was worn to a frazzle in the end; she fucking had it with Deidara and his bitchy attitude—he was totally a different person from when she'd first met him in the art store in Waterfall on that fateful mission—it started shortly after he'd taken her to the complex—Leader was dead, so it wasn't like _he_ was going to complain or anything—and introduced her to the rest of the newly reformed Akatsuki (they focused on marriage counseling and community service work nowadays, Kisame said, though Sakura didn't fall for that for a second); she was an instant hit and was the constant center of attention to every man in the Akatsuki, and some of that attention was _vastly_ different than others, Deidara apparently noticed; Sakura was completely blind to his feelings, though, and it wasn't until she had returned to her room, sliding to the floor against the door in the darkness, that she comprehended the feel of his lips moving against hers in the hallway as he abruptly ended her little rant about his recent behavior and Hidan's "_Oh_ my fucking _God_, you guys," as he arrived on the scene just when it was getting interesting; now that she thought about it, Sakura finally understood the little money exchange from earlier, as well, though after what happened she was sure there would be no more incidents like it.

**#13 – Fall**

After the first time Sakura had managed to get Deidara to take her on a sky ride, she had been on numerous more—too many to count—and knew from him the basic rules and regulations of flight: do not jump off the bird unless you're me, yeah; do not fly into a storm unless there are _no_ other options; do not attempt to engage in sexual intercourse when in motion (frenzied groping while searching for a place to land, however, _had_ been approved, although it was important to hold on to your clothes), and other such wisdom; she couldn't help but be worried, though, despite Deidara's _lovely_ passenger performance feedback when he wanted to take Daichi on his first aerial world tour for a fifth birthday present; Deidara solemnly promised her with a quick peck on the cheek—Hidan was lurking around the area _again_—that no matter what happened, he would never let Daichi fall.

**#14 – Fire**

Sakura had recently taken up a habit, knitting, and was using her growing talent in the field to fashion proper protective clothing for the members of the Akatsuki when they traipsed about in the northernmost parts of ninja country; she had been finishing up the attaching of the final pompon on Itachi the Expert of Fire Jutsu's brand new black beanie—which he _would_ be wearing under pain of death—when she was startled out of her mindless bliss by a rather noisy observation: "You fucking pervert! Jashin will eternally roast you in the pits of hell for that shit right there, seriously," Sakura stopped her work to look straight up into Deidara's crimson face—once peering quietly down at her from the top of the armchair's high back, now looking at Hidan with embarrassed anger etched on every line of his visible figure—and, amused, watched as the two started in on yet another hopeless argument revolving around _her:_ " I—I wasn't looking down her _shirt,_ yeah; I was _trying_ to see what it was she was making!" and _another_ retort: " I'll have you know I can see perfectly well what it is from right here, you damned heathen," and they weren't done _yet:_ "Well, what the hell were _you_ doing in here, yeah?" and, finally, a "I was checking the fucking _time,_ you sex-starved bastard!" which ended long after Sakura had fled the scene to lock herself in Tobi's closet to complete the woolen masterpiece; ("Of _course_ you can finish it here, Sakura! Tobi doesn't mind at all!")

**#15 – Flexible**

Sakura prayed the tree branch would be flexible like a good tree—yes, that's a good tree—but it seemed that the tree wasn't feeling partial to the needs of a single human girl in prayer that day and snapped; the branch Sakura had been silently lurking on suddenly splintered and fell to the ground below, startling the blond man she had been observing sitting next to the very same asshole tree before he thrust out his arms in reflex, which became momentarily full of panicking, squirming medic; when Sakura realized his death grip wasn't going to relent any time soon, she gave up and looked into his smug face, into that single, piercing eye, and waited to be raped, tortured, and blown up; she was not prepared for an "I was _wondering_ when you'd come down from there, yeah; I was about to leave."

**#16 – Flying**

Sakura told Deidara in the kitchen that her birthday was coming up soon, her twenty-first; when patiently waiting for Deidara to ask the inevitable cookie-muffled question as to what she so desired, she _knew_ all of a sudden, and replied to his inquiry with a winning grin, "I want you to take me flying," and after removing the final particles of microscopic chocolate chips and cookie dough from his aching lungs, he asked "Why the hell, yeah," receiving a "Why the hell not?" in return; later, making sure she had bundled up good and proper—it wouldn't do to harm the baby, he said, though Sakura was quite sure it was well-protected (but not willing to get into a child safety argument before it was even five months past existence)—he summoned one of his giant clay birds, heaved her onto the exact center, hopped on after, and took off into the sky.

**#17 – Food**

"The way to a man's stomach is through his food, seriously, or whatever that shit is people say," Hidan reminded Sakura, smirking, pointing a baked chicken leg to her in a mock salute as she stood beaming in the kitchen, watching with pride as everyone scarfed down her first Akatsuki homemade dinner, her second goal since she rid the complex of bugs, completely missing the way Deidara scowled and tapped his chopsticks loudly on his plate in annoyance when she returned Hidan's remark with a sultry, "Well, looks like it might be working for _someone_," and answering Kakuzu's usual "how much" question with a sigh and a lie; she was a little taken aback when Deidara suddenly stood up and left with a "Not really hungry, yeah," but just pissed when Kisame turned to Kakuzu and said, "I _told_ you. Now cough up. And give me _all_ of it," and fairly steaming at Kakuzu's answered, "Oh, fuck you."

**#18 – Foot**

The best thing about delivering babies—in Sakura's opinion—was the part when she got to dip the newborn's hand and foot in black ink and stamp a record on their hospital papers; after the five-hour labor, though, Sakura wasn't in any mood to do much else than feed the baby—at Daichi's insistence—and bear her husband's coddling in between feedings—at Deidara's insistence—so it was Tobi who did it after a severe round of beg-and-plead with the baby's father; as everyone watched in calm silence as Daichi was intricately lowered into the ink—blue eyes looking but not quite seeing, wisps of blonde hair looking utterly fluffable—the tender moment was suddenly ruined by Hidan bursting into the thrown-together Akatsuki birthing room to announce that he'd been curious as to why _only_ Deidara was allowed to help with the birthing, so he'd been watching the whole thing from a window unseen, and he wasted no time in announcing to all present that it was "The fucking most disgusting shit he'd ever seen in his _life_, seriously," before being ran out and chased after by Deidara himself while Tobi and Sakura's nervous laughter filled the room and Daichi began to cry.

**#19 – Grave**

The whole thing was rather touching in retrospect: Daichi's tearful announcement at breakfast, the preparations for the ceremony, forcing Hidan to be the priest—"You _are_ the most religious one around here, yeah," (courtesy of Deidara), Daichi's meticulous grave-digging rigmarole in the backyard—"With my fucking _scythe_, the little ass," the caterers from in town—"This is going to cost us _so_ much money," and even a DJ—it was Kisame in civvies, but Daichi was cool with it—all for Zetsu, who was now in his final resting place while the Akatsuki plus Sakura and Daichi dined on tea sandwiches, ramen, and vodka and reminisced about the good ole days, even Itachi, who, to his credit, had a small conversation with Daichi without a _single_ annoyed sigh; Zetsu, standing at the grave still, was alone in his thoughts: _I still can't believe he named a rabbit after me. _

**#20 – Green **

Sakura often asked Deidara questions—which he loved—about his style of art—which _she_ loved—on numerous occasions, and although she didn't really see the point of making a sculpture just to blow it _up_ when it was finished, she did love the little figurines he allowed her to keep stowed on a shelf in her new room—"I'm not sure if these are _really_ the non-exploding ones, yeah; the clay could've gotten mixed up,"—that she had actually inspired him to make; lately she'd gotten him experimenting with some odd colored clay Sakura dug up in the back courtyard, and although neither of them were sure exactly how they felt about that first sickly-looking green bird, the tiny explosion followed by the room being filled with billowing, thick green smoke invoked a new art hobby for Deidara, a giggle from Daichi, and an exasperated sigh from Zetsu, who had just finished tidying up the room.


	3. Inconceivable Parting

**A/N: **Who read the new Naruto manga chapter? I did! My reaction: a;orfn;awig;oirg;qpw2wJHIEHGIJEWARPHAEFGUHBDifuvhieruh954!!!?1. How about you guys? And in light of the new manga, here's a sneak peak at the new idea I have for a fic:

**Title:** Ultimate Bloodfest of Darkness and Terror

**Genre:** Horror/Suspense

**Rating:** M

**Fandom:** Naruto

**Summary:** Tobi's back in this novel-length thriller, "the best of its time" (Christina Aguilera, _Playboy_). They killed his family. They killed his girlfriend. They killed his cat Guinevere. But they forgot to kill his rage. Tobi is tired of being labeled the idiot. He's through with all the lies, all the mistranslations. He's sick of no one ever pairing him up with an actual female. He's done with being called Little Pumpkin Face Virgin Man. This time…Tobi is _not_ a good boy. Be sure to bring a plastic bag-lined trash can with you when you read this mother. It's gonna be one hell of a ride.

Just kidding. Lawl.

I have a message for humanity: MAKE MORE PEINSAKU!!!1 Fallacy is currently the only one with a PeinSaku fic on and that crap needs to change. If you know of one, tell us (Me, Fallacy, IvyAdrena) so we can post that bitch on our C2. Or make one. A _good_ one. That is all.

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**#21 – Head**

The winter months settling in meant sickness, and sickness meant headaches, and aches of any sort meant Sakura got more than half of the Akatsuki coming into her room _dying_ of some weather-induced ailment; this winter was going to be a winter to remember, though, and all because of a little mix-up with the medicine; soon after the mistake—which was partly the fault of Kakuzu, but mostly the fault of the drunk cashier at the pharmacist's—Itachi had a bizarre fetish for raw leeks, Hidan would go out onto the lawn naked and make flower wreaths, Tobi would start talking in some made-up language, and Deidara _still_ thought chicken rhymed with potato occasionally, even though the counter medicines and Sakura's chakra tried ceaselessly to alleviate the symptoms; _From now on, I'm picking the medicine up _myself

**#22 – Hollow**

There was a place in the underground mazes of the base where Sakura like to escape to once in a while (after she swallowed her pride enough to ask for a proper tour this time around) to just read a book, write in her journal, look at photo books, practice centering her chakra around random points in her body, or whatever struck her fancy at the time; it was a hollow in the wall carved out by the impact of an unfortunate intruder as he was hit full-on by a rather large fire jutsu, and was just perfect for someone who wanted to see and not be seen; feeling very proud of herself for discovering this hidey-hole all on her own, Sakura felt almost embarrassed when she went poking around the little space some more and found a single blonde hair and traces of clay that looked as if it had been there a while.

**#23 – Honor**

There was a lot of honor in motherhood and being a wife, this Sakura understood; most of the pain, responsibility, love, and frustration were expected when she filled in the position, but the majority still was unexplored and confusing to her; when there was a problem, her husband and son were bound to come to her: She _had_ to know the answer to what they were seeking, not being knowledgeable about _anything_ was absolutely ridiculous—you simply weren't _allowed_ to be a mother unless you knew how to fix things just right—and this frightened Sakura; she feared losing love from Deidara if she ever did anything horribly wrong—even Daichi, young as he was—or losing respect from others as a mother, wife, and caretaker when she didn't even respect herself in these fields; for now, she waited for the wisdom and experience to fall out of the sky for her, and wore a smile over her aching heart.

**#24 – Hope**

Sakura understood it had been incredibly foolish to hope for a small bit of privacy between her and Deidara but couldn't help it at the time; the strains of raising a four-year-old son—_Deidara's_ son, for crying out loud—were very taxing for the both of them, and every couple could would set aside private time (then again, those couples probably weren't the proud parents of a Daichi-type child) to relive the days when sex was frequent and tasty, not a forbidden luxury limited to quickies in a broom closet (as it were), and Sakura had greedily snatched a couple of hours for some bathroom banging when Daichi was due for his "follow Mr. Kusu" ritual; to their credit, they managed to get in the water and talk for about five minutes when the kissing took over, another five seconds for the groping and fondling stage to set in, and even managed to arrange themselves _just right_ for the _really_ fun part when the bathroom door banged open almost on cue to reveal Daichi staring at the startled pair; Daichi immediately broke eye contact and dashed off, leaving Deidara and Sakura staring at one another, wondering if they should go comfort the kid after most likely scarring him for life (Sakura) or letting the thing go to hell and fuck already (Deidara); their respective concerns were squashed when Daichi appeared in the doorway again naked with another towel, slowly entered the bathroom—closing the door carefully behind him—then thrust the towel to the side, ran and jumped into the tub (executing a perfect belly flop), and promptly began chattering away to his mother, his father being in no emotional state for chit chat and forlornly submerged underwater besides.

**#25 – Light**

Sometimes Sakura just had to sleep with the light on—which Deidara probably understood—because even the warmth of another person next to you couldn't always chase the darkness away, couldn't always make the nightmares become faint wisps of memory fast enough; he never said anything about it, never questioned her silly resolve, just reached over soundlessly and switched on the light, then waited to see if she would accept physical contact, which she would more often than not, because sometimes she needed the warmth of his body and the light together.

**#26 – Lost**

It was easy to get lost in the vast hallways of the Akatsuki complex, Sakura quickly learned; true, she had made some pretty cool discoveries by losing her way or taking wrong turns—the enigmatical tree, which she'd never been able to find again—but this time Sakura knew she'd screwed up big time; there were complex traps and abysmal mazes for unwanted intruders to unwittingly place themselves into, and this _very_ recently acquired knowledge had Sakura panting on the verge of panic and wishing she hadn't politely turned down Zetsu's offer to show her around, not really understanding how important it would be later, especially now that she was hanging onto the edge of the floor looking down into a pit that held God-knows-what at the bottom; quietly going over her will to pass the time until imminent death (she planned on giving her book collection to Naruto in hopes of making some sort of impact on the boy), Sakura completely missed the hurried taps of footfall making their way towards her and only registered the presence of another person when a pumpkin—no, Tobi—reached its hand down to pull her to safety with a cheery, "There you are, Sakura! Deidara went crazy when he didn't know where you were, so Tobi was trying to find you! Don't tell him Tobi said he was crazy, please."

**#27 – Metal**

As Deidara shivered slightly from the cool metal of the stethoscope on his back, Sakura took some time to think about the situation while she listened to the raspy sound of congested fluids lolling about in Deidara's left lung; it had started several days ago at breakfast (where a lot of things seemed to start) when Deidara apparently "wasn't hungry"—though judging by the comments of the other Akatsuki members, this was complete and utter bullshit—so Sakura had gone to check on him, finding him pale and feverish and shivering in his bed; a sharp eye and a quick analysis later revealed the infection in his lungs, and she moved him to a cot in her room where she could and would perform regular check-ups on her reluctant patient; Sakura realized now how valuable the situation was, putting her in a position of utter dominance on the man who had recently decided to make her life hell, for she could easily take childish advantage of it later but for now she would be thankful for the purely medical experience; there was lots of time later to rub it in his face if he decided to get smart with her.

**#28 – New**

"I _love_ that negligee; I think it is new," "Oh, _yes,_ darling, most certainly it is new; you bought it at Felicity's for our two-month anniversary, now stop talking and show me how to _love_ once more;" the conversation ended there as the fuchsia-haired woman surrendered willingly to the powerfully masculine man above her, running her fingers through his soft, long hair and pausing to gaze into his Sharingan eyes with—Sakura woke with a start, sitting up in bed sharply and waking the (thankfully) blond man next to her, who sleepily croaked, "What is it, yeah?"; "Nothing, nothing, just get some clothes on; I need you to help me do something really fast…Deidara"; Sakura quickly pulled on a shirt and some jeans while Deidara stared at her from the bed with a nameless expression as she finished dressing and went to the closet, throwing assorted objects into a spare bag; two hours and hundreds of miles away afterwards, Sakura franticly formed a pit with a chakra-infused fist, threw every single romance novel she owned into the unseen bottom, and had a highly amused Deidara reduce the pile to ashes with a clay bomb; on the bird back home, conversation was inquiring but short: "Does this have anything to do with the dream, yeah?" "No, and for your information I was _not_ dreaming," "Whatever; are you sure you don't want to talk ab—?" "_No._"

**#29 – Old**

"And this is my mom, yeah"; Deidara wasn't as averse to revealing pieces of his past life to Sakura as she gathered beforehand, before she was sitting side-to-side with him on his bed surrounded by old photos and keepsakes scattered across the thrown-back sheets and hardwood floor; Sakura enjoyed moments like these with him because it made him more human, brought him down to an understandable level, even if only for a short time; it made her feel like since he was showing her these parts of his life—which he had _never_ shown anyone else, he assured her confusedly after her sudden questioning—he maybe wouldn't mind making her a part of it as well; later, she hoped he'd smile softly and not ask as she slipped a small picture of herself (the only one she could bear having anyone see) under his door in the dead of night.

**#30 – Peace**

The peace of mind was the thing Sakura valued most after a battle, not the victory or loss and the costs of each; she felt that very same calm settle over her mind as she hovered on the verge of sleep in her "birthing room" cot, looking over at Daichi sleeping (finally) in his bassinet, which was really a laundry basket that Kakuzu offered—"Don't expect me to get all sweet with the kid; I'm just doing this because…oh, just take the damn thing,"—but what the hell: Sakura was happy, Daichi was happy, Deidara was moderately sane once more…everything was perfect, even for only a moment or forever; she leaned over the side of the bed to look at Deidara sitting cross-legged on the floor, reaching a hand in to caress his son's cheek in what he would consider an extremely non-manly way if he knew Sakura was watching, but he was that way about a lot of things, Sakura thought with a smile.


	4. Eternal Passion

**A/N:** This chapter is brought to you by Stevie Wonder and Jim Brickman. Number Thirty-two was inspired by Fallacy, who is responsible for the two lines from Deidara and Sakura. [Loveloveheartheart You don't want to know what inspired the rest of them.

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**#31 – Poison**

Many people thought love was like a poison that infected your body with its presence and ultimately killed you; after the Sasuke Saga, Sakura was highly inclined to agree; however, after the Deidara Saga (episodes were currently ongoing) Sakura was highly inclined to change her mind: Being with Deidara was totally different than being with any other man she had ever known, even ones like Naruto; he was funny and easy to talk to while having the ability to be dreadfully serious at any given time, he let her do her own thing but was fiercely protective of her and their unborn child (if you called "rubbing it in Hidan's face" protective, that is), he was almost embarrassingly independent in some instances but always blushed when he asked for Sakura's opinion on something new he sculpted, and, most importantly, he was good in bed; perhaps _he_ was his own brand of poison, though not lethal _very_ addicting.

**#32 – Pretty**

Watching Deidara and Daichi have father-to-teenage-son fights was pretty much a waste of time if you planned on getting to engage a motherly intervening, but very handy if you wanted some fast entertainment; Daichi was notorious for being a stubborn ass when he wanted to be—unlike his little brother Michi, who was _slightly_ less of an ass—but Deidara was _avoided_ for being a stubborn ass, so every fight was a battle of wills, usually with Daichi as the victor to a suddenly softie Deidara; this time it was about Daichi's first girlfriend, who was okay until she decided to get a tattoo on her lower back: Then she was the spawn of Satan, and no longer fit for the first son of Deidara, Formerly of the Rock Village; this one didn't last very long, as it was obvious Daichi had been rehearsing possible conversations in his room, and pretty soon he was bounding off to the nearby village back to his lady friend and Deidara was watching his plight with a wistful look on his face; Sakura came up behind him and sighed dramatically: "Jesus, Deidara, he's _thirteen years old; _cut the umbilical cord already,"; "Well, ex_cuse_ me if I don't want some girl taking advantage of my boy, yeah!"; Sakura relented to the whole thing and burst out laughing, "Deidara, sometimes you are just _so_ pathetically cute!"

**#33 – Rain**

To some people, rain was a symbol of sadness, loss, and oppression; to Sakura it was, quite simply, a symbol of sex; Deidara's clay, even when reinforced with extra chakra, simply wouldn't hold strong against the onslaughts of water common during spring in the area, and when he couldn't use his clay Deidara felt very worthless; Sakura took it upon herself to prove to him just how un-worthless he was each and every time it rained; "I do so love the springtime,"; "Me, too, yeah; what's with the Shakespeare?"

**#34 – Regret**

Deidara knew regret in a new form the day Daichi knew true pride; everyone was in their usual places for the usual three o' clock of that otherwise normal winter day: Sakura in the kitchen making a snack for whoever wanted one (and it was the same every time: She would make a batch of cookies, set them out on the counter, and then all of them would be gone in less than an hour, although she had yet to see anyone actually _take_ a cookie), Deidara was sculpting some random doodad while sitting propped up by the fridge, and Daichi was frolicking in the snow-covered meadow out front while Kakuzu watched him like a hawk from a second floor window (he denied it, of course) when it happened: the _silence;_ everyone in the building stilled for a minute, because a silent Daichi meant something monumental was about to occur—or another explosion (Tobi opened his bedroom window in case quick evacuation was needed anytime soon); "Dad, Dad, _look_ at them,"; Daichi thrust his hands in his father's face, startling the man and making him squish the clay blender (it was Sakura's idea) between his fingers; it was soon forgotten when Deidara managed to pry Daichi from his face and take a good look at his hands—his hands which were now the new home for some Deidara-inherited mouths; Deidara nor Sakura had any time to put in a word, though, before Daichi was dashing away up the stairs to show Mr. Kuzu; replacing the smooshed clay in his bag, Deidara looked towards the stairs with an intense emotion on his face, and Sakura—noticing and understanding his inner turmoil like any self-respecting wife of Deidara would be noticing—sat down on the floor with him and gave him a doughy hug; "_He's_ happy about it; you should be, too; now let's go somewhere and celebrate,"; Deidara looked up and grinned, and replied, "Are you sure you aren't just looking for an excuse to have sex, yeah?"; "That's for _me_ to know and _you_ to find out,"; the cookies burned, but Kisame ate them anyway.

**#35 – Roses**

The clay roses were the first display of affection Deidara granted her after the initial romp, and the adorable little ritual was the same for her every morning: Before he was cajoled out of bed and out the door by Kisame and Hidan (who liked to cajole extra loud) he would yell obscenities at them until they left his room and shut the door, check to make sure Sakura was _really_ asleep—she never was, and got better and better at pretending over time—take some low-level explosive clay out of his bag, check if she was _still_ really asleep, sit cross legged on the floor watching her for signs of waking, and make the rose; it really was an intricate thing, Sakura thought as she fingered number fifteen; she could close her eyes and imagine she was holding a real one: the petals were soft and thin and curled at the edges, the thorns were _almost_ sharp, The leaves had a fuzzy texture to them, and the bud was tightly closed; then, just like always, just as she finished the final inspections of the rose, the bud would bloom for a fleeting moment before it lightly exploded into a million tiny pieces, which were scooped up and put into a jar under the bed.

**#36 – Secret**

Secret crushes nearly destroyed someone as easily as blatant ones; with a blatant crush, though, at least you _thought_ you knew what you wanted, although usually in the end you ended up as the name implied: crushed; Sakura's dealings with Sasuke had proved that to her every time she allowed herself to think back upon her so-called childhood love; it was probably her lack of tact and pacing that demolished whatever chance she may have had with him, but that was all under the rug of life now; now she had Deidara to think about—her former secret crush—who was currently deep asleep beside her, drooling on his pillow and making her arm fall asleep—and was thankful to him for being a brash idiot and making the first move so she wouldn't make more stupid mistakes in love again and let herself be worried by her own misgivings this time around.

**#37 – Snakes**

Snakes were never the favorite animal of Sakura, but now she was sure she absolutely hated them; they were sneaky creatures: They crawled on their bellies in the dust to achieve their wants and needs, they hissed and spat most of the time, they struck to wound but not always to kill, they were…just like Sasuke; Sakura respected Deidara for not being like Sasuke; he was ornery and foul-mouthed sometimes, but _never_ tried to sneak around; he was almost _infuriatingly_ proud at times, but Sakura preferred that to groveling; he had his pissy moments, but they were mostly directed at Hidan, not her; he never inflicted emotional wounds on a person as foreplay unless something was _really_ wrong, and he always struck to kill, which was much more preferred than prolonging suffering; most of all, though, she loved him because he was just _him,_ not a shell of a man she once loved, just Deidara through and through.

**#38 – Snow**

Akatsuki headquarters was far enough north so that every winter a thick blanket of snow covered the ground for miles, untouched in their isolated area, and it was there that Daichi discovered his artistic talent, much to Sakura's joy and Deidara's pride: snow sculpting; it started with the snow angels, which a laughing Sakura showed six-year-old Daichi the proper way to execute them; they were an instant hit for Daichi, who quickly moved on to bigger and better things; soon he was out in the snow all day with a parent or guardian (Kakuzu said he was only "stepping out to get some fresh air") and a blunted kunai, making likenesses of everything he knew; a couple were turned back into powder rather quickly at the insistence of the owners: "It's not like we don't _love_ it, sweetie, it's just…not very appropriate,"; "I do _not_ have a _fucking_ cowlick, seriously,"; everyone agreed, however, that Daichi was certainly showing his father's talent for art, though Deidara was a bit put out that his son didn't also share his view of what _true_ art should be: "Well, _I_ think art is something that changes after a while and looks a little different every time."

**#39 – Solid **

When Daichi came to his senses, both Sakura and Deidara were finally able to get some sleep at night; Daichi had found out a little more about his rebel girlfriend's past—she had two kids in the orphanage at age _sixteen_, for crying out loud—and dumped her after the first two nerve wracking years; the last anyone heard of her she was in rehab for extensive abuse of some opiate ("Serves that bitch right, yeah,"; "Dei_dara_!") and not seeing anyone; by the time his seventeenth birthday came around, though, Daichi had a new significant other: Akio from the library in town, to which Daichi had begun making suspiciously long visits to for many years on book-fetching excursions for the Akatsuki; after visiting with Akio at the base, Sakura could conclude that Daichi had been attracted to her for a long time; she was pretty, but not over the top beautiful; she was extremely intelligent, but not arrogant about it; she was down-to-earth and solid—just what Daichi needed—but was adept at keeping conversation light and funny; after the girl showed Sakura her _special_ cookie recipe, Sakura was just about ready to sit the girl down for a talk on how men from Deidara's family liked their sex.

**#40 – Spring**

The promise of spring coming to chase away after the long winter nights were what kept people going throughout situations, Sakura mused, otherwise they'd go crazy—_she'd_ go crazy; Deidara had finally passed out asleep draped over Daichi's bed at Sakura's insistence—Deidara had been up for two and a half days straight—and one of the Akatsuki members was still coming with the remaining medicine for Daichi; several days ago, what Sakura took for a simple winter croup had turned into something much more deadly, and Daichi drifted in and out of consciousness as his ability to breathe came and went, crying out in sleep from his fevered dreams; the snow kept anyone from going into the nearest pharmacy to get the necessary medicine until very recently—an hour ago exactly—and so onion after onion was peeled and boiled by all able hands in the kitchen—for the disease's ancient treatment of boiled onions on the victim's chest—which were placed on Daichi by Deidara while Sakura monitored him with chakra tendrils, thankfully making him cough up the mucus and blood filling his lungs after a while; Sakura felt helpless that she couldn't just use her chakra to clean out the boy's lungs, but the chakra failed to remove all the particles at once, which was vital for the treatment; now, though, they wouldn't need it: as the sun rose on the first cloudless day in months, melting away the snow and filling the sick room with golden light, Sakura realized that she could no longer hear the constant noise of a small child's gasping and wheezing.


	5. A Fortunate Accident

**A/N: **Well, I'm finally done with this bitch. Thank you, Fallacy, for betaing, (and correcting the grammur on my author's note, omglol) and thank you, Akatsuki and Sakura, for letting me screw with your heads. And thank you, make-believe village and old lady and new parents and baby and Kado and Daichi and Michi, for letting me make you up.

**----------**

**#41 – Stable**

Considering there were not many places nowadays where Deidara and Sakura could be left in peace, the couple had to get increasingly creative with their hiding places: Daichi found the hole in the maze and spent time there with his guitar now, Michi could unlock any door blindfolded and upside-down, and then there was the rest of the Akatsuki, most of whom made it a habit to be where you didn't want them to be at that particular moment; this one had to be the most creative yet, Sakura mused as she was tugged along by Deidara's insisting hand to a local farmer's stable barn; the next morning, the farmer stared in shock at the straw strewn haphazardly all over the floor—he was _sure_ he'd piled it all up nice before turning in for the night—the overturned buckets, and a woman's single shoe left where it had landed after being tossed over someone's shoulder the previous night in _quite_ a hurry in stall number seventeen; meanwhile, miles away: "Deidara, where the _hell's_ my shoe?"

**#42 – Strange**

Sakura felt isolated at the base; she knew somewhere inside of her that Deidara was just trying to be nice by showing her his friends—"Sorry, Deidara, _comrades,_"—but her first few days there were the worst; she felt strange to the environment, _But,_ she thought darkly, _it's better to _try_ to belong in a place where I _didn't_ than to _not_ belong in a place where I _did; still, Sakura found herself inventing excuses to remain at the base and endure Deidara's bizarre new attitudes—the bugs, the cleaning, the cooking—but she really didn't feel passionate about it all, and was bored out of her mind most of the time; a day in town changed all of that: Sakura and Kakuzu were getting supplies for the base—or, _Sakura_ was getting supplies for the base while Kakuzu stood around looking important—when an elderly woman rushed into the pharmacy where they stood in the checkout line and cried, to the pharmacist, clearly distressed: "Kado, it's no use; the baby just won't come out!"; feeling the call to battle surge through her veins, Sakura shoved the packages in Kakuzu's arms, swiped a box of latex gloves and alcohol from the counter (the pharmacist told her later he didn't mind; it was an emergency) and ordered the woman to lead her to the mother; the baby came out fine in the end, the new parents thanked her, the old woman praised her, and Sakura quietly left the scene at the appropriate time to find an annoyed Kakuzu laden down with merchandise; "What the hell are you smirking at?"; "Oh, nothing," Sakura laughed, "it's just…I don't feel so strange being here anymore,"; "…I'm not carrying these all the way back, just so you know."

**#43 – Summer**

_No one ever really_ does _anything around here,_ Sakura grumbled, _it's practically a utopia outside and everyone just lays about and bitches about how_ bored _they are;_ _I'd like to change that;_ Sakura got up from the kitchen table, a woman with a goal, and went straight to the nearby town to the city hall; days later, Sakura called everyone to the living room to discuss what she called an "extremely vital" and "life-sustaining" mission to the southern parts of the valley, but for some reason remained vague on the finer details ("Mom, what weapons should we take?"; "Oh, uh…you probably won't need them…no, you will…well, you can bring some if you want, I guess,"), and confused most of the Akatsuki men into a state of niggling suspicion—except for Deidara, who had been let in on the plans after some high quality "persuading" last night of where she'd been going, and was holding his face in his hands; the group reached their secret destination early afternoon the next day, and the group stood stock still when they reached the final rendezvous point: a pasture with some grazing sheep; all eyes turned to Sakura—Deidara's turned away in embarrassment—who was looking proudly at the sheep with a hand on her hip, reading off a paper, "The local sheep are summered year-round in the high pastures and are a great source of income to the local population; to partake in the shearing, come on the following dates…well, we're here, guys; everyone pick a sheep; the stable hands will show you how to do it properly, and I can help someone, too,"; a deafening silence met her ears, and she whirled around to face various levels of betrayal—"Mom, you said was gonna be fun—you _said!";_ "I can't believe I came all this _fucking_ way and I don't even get to _kill_ anyone, dammit!"—annoyance—"…"; "I agree with the Uchiha,"—slight discomfort—"I wonder what I'll do now with all these extra kunai; might as well keep them just in case,"; "Um…Tobi _likes_ sheep; really!"—and near humiliation—"Don't _fucking_ look at me, yeah! It was all _her_ idea! Stop it!"; "Mom, you made us think we were going on a _mission_ and just wanted us to come shave some damn _sheep?_"; "It's called _shearing,_ and watch your mouth, Daichi, because we _are_ on a mission to keep the sheep from having strokes; now everyone grab a kunai get working."

**#44 – Taboo**

The Akatsuki was tabooed from the rest of the world, so "exciting events" happened right there at the base, and whatever it was was usually big news, _especially_ if it had to do with Sakura: Sakura's arrival, Deidara and Sakura's joining, her pregnancy, and other various milestones in her life; she viewed the whole group as a family, not by the way they acted around each other, but by the way stories were spread around; this habit first caught Sakura's attention when she really started listening to everyone after she and Deidara officially got married behind everyone's backs—not a smart thing to do when one wanted to avoid gossip—when Tobi approached her to politely ask if what he heard from Kakuzu was true: That they'd really been seeing each other before Deidara even joined Akatsuki, had gotten married shortly before the attack on Suna, and had six children hidden in a different village to protect their identities; too stunned to even attempt even a chakra-less punch, Sakura could only stare at Tobi as he became increasingly nervous and began to babble: "Well, it _might_ have been that way; _Hidan_ said that you guys met in a brothel when you were doing reconnaissance missions, and _Zetsu_ said he was sure it had been an arranged marriage 'cause there was _no way_ anyone would marry Deidara in the first place since he's so cranky all the time, and _Tobi_ thought maybe he'd captured you a long time ago and fell in love and you eloped but couldn't be together at the last second and—"; Tobi never got to finish his sentence; the next thing he knew he was flying out a window.

**#45 – Ugly**

When Deidara sculpted, he put all of his heart into making the end result exactly the way he pictured the subject in his mind, and Sakura hated this sometimes as much as she appreciated it; that hot afternoon when Daichi was helping Michi to learn how to crawl (everyone would regret that later), Sakura was reading a novel and Deidara was hunched over next to her with a blob of clay was the day she realized this revelation in its fullest; Sakura was just getting to her favorite part when Deidara suddenly shoved the blob under her nose and said, smirking, "What do you think of _that,_ yeah?"; the smirk should have been her cue _not_ to look, really, but it was just a reflex, and anyways, it was too late now; sitting in her hand—sitting on a _bed_ in her hand, actually—was _her,_ the way she looked right after having Daichi after most of the afterbirth was put in washtubs to the side: Her hair was a total mess, there were bags under her eyes, her limbs were sprawled about in an _extremely_ unladylike way…she was just a mess, there was no debating it; shrieking and tossing the book to the side, she grabbed at the little figurine—that _bitch_ was going in the garbage disposal right away—only to have it whisked back away to Deidara's protective—_laughing,_ the bastard—form of arms and torso; "Oh, why do you _always_ have to get inspired by my ugly moments?"; setting the clay Sakura down on the desk nearby, Deidara saw his chance and grabbed the real Sakura's waist and pulled her squealing down onto his chest, where she eventually surrendered enough for him to give her a really slobbery kiss—more squealing—and reply: "Well, _I_ thought you looked beautiful, yeah."

**#46 – War**

It was perfectly normal for members of the Akatsuki to get in loud fights with one another—well, it was mostly Deidara and Hidan arguing about Sakura for the _millionth_ time—with the pointing of the fingers and the reaching for the weaponry and the tensing of the muscles, but it was known among them—in almost myth-like reverence—that when Sakura acted calm and quiet to any one of them, she was usually declaring open war; a woman could be pissy in any hour of the day, but only when she got _really_ mad did she seem to get "all better"; _The trick to distinguishing this from a _normal_ lull in mood, _Itachi thought sagely, _was the _sudden_ drop in hormonal rages and the like, because otherwise it could just be a normal situation; _it took the Akatsuki a while to notice her little habit, but when they did, none of the men ever took offense at being yelled at or smacked around again, except for Deidara; he learned to be pretty neutral about it since no doubt he had many years ahead of him full of henpecking; it was best to learn to endure these things pretty quickly.

**#47 – Water**

Deidara hated water, and no one who knew him for any length of time was a stranger to this fact; thus, on the day that Sakura decided it was time for Daichi to have some swimming lessons in the nearby lake, this duty passed to Kisame, who carried the grinning, unsuspecting child into the water on his back while the nervous parents watched from shore; hours later, after Sakura had brought lunch down for Deidara and her to watch the thrilling climax—Daichi was screaming like a maniac while holding on to Kisame's neck, who was on his last nerve—things didn't look any better than they were or were ever going to _be,_ but Deidara and Sakura were getting a break to eat lunch with _only_ each other, so as long as _someone_ was watching the offspring, the sky would fall and they wouldn't notice; then, just as Kisame was ready to call it a day (it almost had been, really), Daichi's little friend he'd met from the trips to the library with Sakura swam up to the surface where he was at, shyly mumbled a hello, then took off back underneath the water; Daichi was as unmoving as Hidan on washing day for a moment, then without warning he launched himself off Kisame's face into the water after her, streamlined and agile as an Olympic champion; while Deidara and Sakura were nearly getting sick from laughing so hard back on shore, Kisame wearily sank into the depths, boneless as an eel, and wasn't seen until the next day, during which he refused to say a word about the _previous_ day's events.

**#48 – Welcome**

Sakura took in a lot of strays back in Konoha: They were all welcome at her house, as far as she was concerned; hell, she'd taken in a lot of _human_ strays, too—Naruto, to name the most prominent—but after a while—and especially with Naruto—Sakura began to feel as though she was the stray being taken in and nurtured, not the other way around; Naruto had always made her feel loved and accepted, and he was still absolutely _infuriating_ at times—even now, in her thoughts—but she remembered all the times that it was him with the smiling face and the ready assurance to right the wrongs and fight the dark clouds in her sky away; Sakura couldn't say that Deidara could do all that as _sappy_ as Naruto did (no one could really pull off the Voice of Assurance like Naruto was prone to use once in a while), but Deidara sure did a damn good job of making sure she was comfortable: Sakura had her own room, five hundred thread count sheets, and lots of books; maybe she'd figure out some day something she could do to repay Deidara, but what with the way he never met her eyes when he talked to her and tended to turn red around her, that would prove to be a difficult task, indeed; what the hell was _wrong_ with that boy these days?

**#49 – Winter**

The winter was inescapable, Sakura grudgingly admitted to the freezing wind, and brutal; she'd been wandering around the ninja country for hours on end looking for the battlefield, but was never able to see more than a few feet in front of her face; she was able to keep warm with what was left of her chakra, but if she didn't find a village or something soon, she was definitely screwed; _I should've never left, I should've never left; _she was only leaving to get some extra herbs she'd found nearby to treat a comrade when she slipped and fell down the cliff; it wasn't tall or steep, but it was icy as hell, so Sakura had gone looking for another way up, which had led to this: her wandering around like a lost and starved animal ready to collapse; several hours later, Sakura was too tired to go on, and she sat in the snow feeling surprisingly warm, her inner medic left to scream about dehydration and survival tactics and _"never_ fall asleep in the snow" unheard; laying her cheek down on the goose down pillow, she looked up and saw a mop of yellow hair; _Naruto? What's he doing in my room? Why's he picking me up?;_ "I don't know what the hell you're talking about, yeah, but I'm dropping you off in the village. And this is just a one-time thing; you're not going to talk around about this, yeah, okay?"; "Okay, Naruto,"; "Hmmph."

**#50 – Wood**

The best thing about living in a colder country was the bonfires, because they really had sentimental and traditional purposes there; wood was bought and gathered from all areas of the world and set aside for a cold night during which the whole village—and everyone around it—would come and sit by the huge fire to talk, tell the news, pass on legends, make new ones, or generally scare the hell out of people (Hidan and Kisame's "Tale of the Dead Guy in the Woods"); the whole Akatsuki went—even Daichi, Sakura, and Michi—and stayed by the fire usually all night, wearing dark cloaks to conceal their identities; later on, after Daichi and some girl who worked in the local library disappeared, Deidara and Sakura decided to weave the epic tale of their love for the crowd by the fire—much to Michi's embarrassment, so he and Hidan also disappeared to go scope out the local shops for something to eat besides sake and biscuits—and spent three hours telling the whole story (some names were changed to protect the blatantly guilty) and another half-hour answering the villager's prying questions; walking back to the base with everyone relatively sober—except Daichi, who had some bizarre red smudges on his neck as well—Deidara slinked his arm around Sakura's waist and she snuggled back into his side with a sigh: "I'm so glad I met you,"; "Me too, yeah,"; Deidara leaned down to peck her on the lips and Sakura licked his nose in response; "Keep it in the fucking bedroom, seriously,"; _It's always Hidan, _Sakura thought with a giggle while Deidara landed a punch on Hidan's head, _but I couldn't imagine life without any of them anymore;_ and as the sun rose slowly from over the mountain, bathing everyone in yellow and red, Sakura smiled.


End file.
